Mexican Restaurants Inc.'s stock dips on talk of going private

Shares of Mexican Restaurants Inc. took a hit following news that the company might be going private.

The board of the Houston-based Mexican restaurant operator announced it had formed a committee to evaluate alternatives to reduce the cost of being a public company, including re-evaluating being listed on the NASDAQ exchange.

By the time the market closed on June 17, shares of Mexican Restaurants (NASDAQ: CASA) had fallen 6.5 percent to $2.27 from the company's June 16 closing price of $2.43 per share.

The company said there is no timeline for the committee to make a recommendation nor will the board be obligated to act on any suggestions made.

In May, the company reported a net loss of $399,147 or 12 cents per share, on revenue of $17 million, for the first quarter ended April 4, 2010. That compared with net income of $179,853 or 5 cents per share, on revenue of $19.2 million, for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009.